Research on dV/dt Reliability Mechanism of 4 H-SiC PiN Power Diode

doi:10.11930/j.issn.1004-9649.202107043

Abstract

Abstract: Silicon carbide (SiC) power switches have the advantages of high-speed and high-power, which leads to more severe high dV/dt reliability issues than silicon (Si) devices in pulsed power systems. It has been verified by experiments that high dV/dt stress will cause permanent degradation of the breakdown characteristics of 4H-SiC PiN power diodes. Simulation results show that there is a strong electric field concentration at the junction between the terminal area of the device and the main junction under high dV/dt stress, which causes the avalanche to occur early, and in turn leads to local temperature rise and permanent damage. The electric field concentration is caused by insufficient depletion of the junction terminal extension (JTE) region under high dV/dt stress. This paper proposes high-concentration compensation doping to the JTE region so as to increase the ionization rate of aluminum (Al) atoms, thereby improving the insufficient depletion of JTE under pulse stress. Simulation proves that this method can effectively reduce the electric field concentration at the edge of the main junction under pulse stress. The 6×10²⁰ cm^–3 phosphorus (P) atom compensation doping improves the device's anti dV/dt capability by about 30%, while the static characteristics are not affected. The proposed method could be a viable way to improve the dV/dt reliability of JTE terminal SiC power devices.

Key words: silicon carbide, dV/dt, junction terminal extension, incomplete ionization, compensation doping

GUO Dengyao, TANG Xiaoyan, LI Linqing, ZHANG Yuming. Research on dV/dt Reliability Mechanism of 4 H-SiC PiN Power Diode[J]. Electric Power, 2021, 54(12): 86-93.

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URL: https://www.electricpower.com.cn/EN/10.11930/j.issn.1004-9649.202107043

https://www.electricpower.com.cn/EN/Y2021/V54/I12/86

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